Monday, September 17, 2007

Curbed visits the real LIC

Specifically, there is some back-and-forth on whether or not hookers patrol the blocks near Arris, which is just a stiletto throw away from the 59th Street Bridge.

A post by an Arris loft owner (#31):

"I bought at Arris and people are right - it was a huge mistake. The train noise is definitely noticeable. They blow the horns every time they enter the tunnel. It is driving me crazy. I'm up every morning at 4am. My unit was a mess when I did my inspection and it still is now. No progress has been made since move in. Very shoddy construction - cracked tiles, uneven countertops, gaps in floorboards, faucets missing seals, etc., etc. Construction workers are in and out of my unit to fix things, but but although some jewelry is not missing nothing seems to get fixed. I've taken quite a few days off from work to deals with this. Walls are paper thin. I feel like if I lean too much against it I will fall into my neighbors unit. I hear everything my neighbor says and he seems to be into rock music which I am not. The hallway walls are a psychedelic orange color which was not disclosed by the broker. It looks like someone threw up or a kids playroom in the hallway.

I would put my unit on the market, but I would probably lose my shirt. First all the construction delays pushed my closing back until the middle of the subprime meltdown. The appraiser at first bank I was going to use appraised the unit below what I paid for it. Fortunately I was also dealing with another bank whose appraiser came up with my purchase price, or I would have lost my deposit. I've got a jumbo loan so my int rate shot up 2 points from what I was planning since I did not have a lock. That's really squeezing me hard. I'm living hand to mouth now. The maintenance reduction for the lack of amenities helps, but it will be tight once the full amount kicks in.

The area is lonely. I was warned before i bought, but i ignored the advice. Its probably safe, but at nights I'm constantly looking over my shoulder and anticipating someone jumping out from the shadows. I miss having my Manhattan friends pop in. Despite all the nearby subways no one wants to come to Queens. There no place to shop or pick something up on the way home. I thought Fresh Direct would bridge the gap, but I was mistaken about how much impulse buys I make.

Guess I'm stuck here for the short term. Stay far away! Consider yourself warned. Undoubtedly some will consider this an exaggeration, but if you live here come knock on my door and I'll show you myself. I'm not afraid to admit I made a mistake here. Just hoping to ride it our sell and move to a more established local. To the Arris lovers out there I have not shared your experience, but the people have been nice overall. No amount of amenities makes up for the pit in my stomach when I come home at night."

By Arris owner at September 13, 2007 1:23 PM___________________________________________Followed up by #66:

A comment from the sidelines...

L.I.C. was a haven for prostitutes, addicts, dealers, etc. for many, many years.

There are definitely still remnants of darker days in the neighborhood, but their presence has sharply declined over the past few years. You can still find prostitutes in the areas around south of The Queensboro Bridge such as Queens Plaza South & Vernon Blvd, Crescent Street & 43rd Avenue, Purves Street, Gantry State Park, and from time to time around the Arris Lofts. I know a few people who work at the 108th Precinct, and they tell me that these tend to be "hotspots" in the neighborhood.

I live in a very charming pre-war walkup in the neighborhood. I write this as a way of demonstrating that I have no bias, good or bad, to Arris, Citylights, Ten 63, or any other of the new developments in the neighborhood. Your buildings are often a point of discussion among my neighbors. They're concerned where all this development will take the neighborhood and more specifically, what type of person will move in as a result.

Most of my neighbors think of most recent transplants as spoiled, petty brats who are eager to flaunt their status with blatant namedropping in regards to where they live. Furthermore, they appear so desperate to protect their frail egos that they readily attack anything not associated with their camp with the kind of juvenile language and tactics I haven't seen since grade school.

It's very depressing to read over your comments. You've basically confirmed what most of the local residents who actually care about their neighborhood already know.

I had hoped for a far better element to move into L.I.C. As gritty as it can be sometimes, it deserves better.

27 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Why the hell would anyone think living in LIC would be a good idea? I love all those new buildings going up on the north side of QP - do they not see the backed up traffic all day every day? Do they not realize that the cities biggest housing project is just a few blocks away (not that the bridge is all bad, but a poorer area usually has some desperate people willing to commit violence for their next drug fix)? Did they miss the fact in their real estate brochure that if they ever get arrested and sent to Rikers, that at least the bus will drop them and every other skel off right outside of their door when they are set loose?

Just what the hell are these idiots thinking?

I have no sympathy for this guy that sank his cash into one of them apartments. Only a fucking fool could miss the obvious truth that is staring them in the face.

So should they not build anything in LIC, let all those unused dumpy industrial and manufacturing buildings sit and rot, let waterfront property near multiple options for mass transit lay barren, and let LIC denigrate to a wasted space? Clearly, once the new buildings and conversions are finished, LIC will be transformed into a terrific urban living environment.

Take off your developer mind controller helmet a moment and think. Don't you see they're replacing what you call "dumpy industrial buildings" with even dumpier apartments? At least the buildings that were there before all the Queens crap were built to last.

If you even had one iota of knowledge about the history of the neighborhood you wouldn't call any of the buildings recently destroyed for putrid profit–see Hackett Building–dumpy. The only thing that's wasted space in LIC is what's between the new renters and buyers' ears.

Actually, it is becoming clear that Arris was a giant fuck up from the get go. So the point that Mr. Curbed troll is trying to make is not relevant. Should they convert the buildings into residential? Perhaps. Did they do it correctly? No.

Should the industrial buildings have been left there to rot? No. Did they have to be replaced with highrises? No. They went too far. LIC could have been a lovely low-rise community rather than Manhattan east. But they wanted to not only change the skyline, they also wanted to change the complexion of the neighborhood. The people moving in are the same ones who are crying over the blond-blue eyed sperm shortage reported on in the Post this weekend.

This is what happens when people get suckered into buying an illusion. For those of us who are life long Queens residents, we know that you can only change LIC so much. You're never getting rid of the LIRR trains, warehouses, Midtown Tunnel and QB traffic, Queensbridge projects and elevated subways. I thought about buying at the Arris Lofts for a total of -- 2 seconds and then...snap, reality hit back.

The waterfront should be made into a park all the way up to Astoria, not letting some tin-horn developer make money off of what should be a priceless community resource. Just because some two-bit politician gave it to them we are going to see nothing but a wall for one parking garage after another.

If that is their idea, then let the waterfront rot until they have enough sense to do what is going on all accross the country (and the East River for that matter): make it a park!

Has traffic from the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, former warehouses, nearby projects or BQE traffic had a negative effect on the development of DUMBO? Obviously not. I find most of the "life long Queens" residents that post on this blog to have a decided lack of knowledge. And of course they can build parkland right on the water, and highrises adjacent to the parks. Like the Upper West Side.

I cant stand yuppy bickering. Thats what we are talking about here. Have you seen some of the posts on Curbed? My Arris is better than your City Lights. No my City Lights is better than your Arris. People with million dollar apartments sniping at eachother, while there are people in this country without a hot meal or a bed to sleep in. Its pathetic.The guy who was complaining about Arris sounds like he needs Paxil. Look people, Long Island City will only transform to a certain extent,thats it. There is just too much industry staying put. Its also a transportaion hub. There will be more Arris type buildings and maybe a spattering of new stores. But by and large it will remain the same. Long Island City has never been a residential area in the "traditional" sense. It started out as an almost exclusively industial area and then pockets of residential started popping up.Iam familiar with the area as some relatives of mine owned a bar there for a brief period of timeon 34th street just off Northern.I have known many people who have lived there over the years and they wouldnt want to live anywhere else. The neighborhood has alot going for it. It part of the rich tapestry that makes Queens so great. Hookers and all.

No, that is not happening. The old community is being bulldozed to oblivion. The residents are given two options, either sell out or put up with the hell of a multiyear construction site, then yuppies that will take over their community and look down on them.

The community was sold out by the politicians, community board, and newspapers.

The Manhattan people who resisted this thing in their boro look down on Queens and see no reason to help us (and considering the way some locals act - look at those anti-landmark hotheads in Sunnyside that play into every bad sterotype people say about Queens) can you blame them?

One time when my husband was riding the B61 bus across the Pulaski Bridge (from LIC to Greenpoint)he got to listen to a fat sack of pus brag to his buddy (via cell phone, naturally) about banging a whore there twice for $300. What a bargain!

I love this stupid notion people seem to have that LIC was a barren unused area before all this stupid development. There was and still is a lot of manufacturing, a lot of taxi repair, a lot of food warehouses, construction material offloading - basically, a whole lot of BUSINESS that had a lot of people employed. Maybe the wages were a little lower than manhattan but still, not everyone wants to work in a manhattan office...

Redeveloping LIC is chasing jobs away.

Redeveloping LIC also makes the prices of everything go up.

It also adds strain on the sewers, power lines, etc.

The 7 train is packed by the time it leaves main street heading towards the city - where the FUCK are all of these new yuppies going to fit onto these trains? The N/W is the same by the time it gets to QP... E, F, V, R, all the same, and the G is useless.

All of this development is just shortsighted and stupid, that's all I'm saying. And the apartments from what I've seen are garbage. Thin walls, poor materials, crappy installation, inadequate stairs in case of fire/disaster, etc. It's just plain not worth the money or the hype to invest in these lemons...

A Lady of the Evening (LOTE) goes to an accountant to have her Income Tax form done professionally. Let's listen-in on their conversation:

ACCOUNTANT: We now have to fill-in the line wherein you must state your profession. How shall I fill that out?LOTE: Put down "Whore"ACCOUNTANT: Oh no! That would be too vulgar an expression.LOTE: OK, How about "Prostitute"?ACCOUNTANT; That's a bit better but still a bit risque. Let's see if we can come up with a more respectable-sounding occupation.LOTE: I've got it! Put down "Chicken-farmer"ACCOUNTANT: "Chicken-farmer"?! How can you get away with that?!?!LOTE: Simple. Last year I raised 5000 cocks.

"I love this stupid notion people seem to have that LIC was a barren unused area before all this stupid development. There was and still is a lot of manufacturing, a lot of taxi repair, a lot of food warehouses, construction material offloading - basically, a whole lot of BUSINESS that had a lot of people employed. Maybe the wages were a little lower than manhattan but still, not everyone wants to work in a manhattan office..."

I have heard time and time again about how shoddy the construction work was or is for that matter at Arris but just because that development has been a disaster dont assume that LIC is not a great place. Yes, its still quiet and it still lacks decent shopping but the proximity to Manhattan without Manhattan prices (excluding Arris) is unbeatable and it still is a upcoming neigborhood meaning if you thought you were moving into Williamsburgh your wrong. As far as hipsters moving into LIC - I think thats fantastic. Its a million times better then how the neigborhood was when I was a kid and for those people that have lived their for 8 or 10 years who dont like the new people moving in, lets not forget that before you lived in LIC - you were from Ohio! As for people like myself who are lifelong Queens residents thanks for moving to LIC, its not Manhattan, its not even Brooklyn, but if youre willing to wait a few years it may be more like what you were hoping for when you moved in. Thanks,

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